Rethinking College Admissions – Ashoka U White Paper and Best Practice Links

Ashoka U has published a white paper on “Rethinking College Admissions: A Social Innovation Approach,” which can be downloaded in full here.

Positioned as action research, we asked the following research question: “How can the college admissions process empower every student with the skills and qualities they need to shape the world for the good of all?”

The report features key challenges and opportunities in the admissions process related to:

• Encouraging experiential learning and changemaker growth opportunities at high schools through the admissions process as an incentive structure.

• Improving campus culture by aligning admissions marketing, outreach, and criteria with institutional values.

• Recognizing skillsets valued by employers and needed in today’s world – such as resourcefulness, resilience, and adaptability – which are not well represented in test scores required for admittance into higher education.

The report offers a baseline of current practices, based on survey responses from admissions officers across 22 (of the 37 total) Ashoka U Changemaker Campuses, and it highlights promising new approaches and innovation across a variety of institutions gleaned from qualitative interviews with educational innovators.

What you’ll find in the report, linked here:

• Baseline Survey: Results of admissions practices across 22 colleges and universities

• Analysis and Recommendations: Key challenges, solutions, and case studies

• Changemaker Toolbox: Innovative practices you can adapt and implement

Call to Action! Host a conversation about changemaker admissions at the upcoming Ashoka U Exchange annual conference. Apply by October 5^th to present your own best practice idea!

We sincerely appreciate the support of the admissions officers who participated in the “Rethinking College Admissions” survey and the interviewees for their generous contributions to this report.

In particular, we are grateful to the Moxie Foundation for its support which made this report possible.

Changemaker Toolbox Highlights and Links:

• Arizona State University E+I FRESHMAN FELLOWS: Prospective students who communicate a strong interest in social entrepreneurship receive personalized communication about ASU’s entrepreneurship offerings, with an invitation to join the E+I Fellows cohort to pursue entrepreneurship regardless of their major, while accessing program resources.

• Seattle University: Sending changemaker quotations, taken directly from the student’s application essay, as a promotional poster in their acceptance letter to highlight their alignment with institutional values. 

• Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey: Offering a 25% scholarship to Changemaker students admitted to any of their social change oriented certificate programs. 

• Malboro College: Renaissance Scholarship: Providing free tuition to a student from eachS. state who can demonstrate their “desire to leave the world better than they found it.”

• Babson College “From Day One” First-Year Student Orientation: Brings together a marketplace of social innovation, designed to engage and connect students to the many ways they can make a difference at Babson and beyond. 

• Tulane University IGNITE pre-orientation program: A week before their college experience begins, students catalyze their leadership potential, learn from local community leaders and activists, and build skills to create positive social change, all while discovering local culinary and cultural gems. 

• University of Colorado Boulder: Sustainability and Social Innovation Residential Academic Program (SSI RAP): Provides an engaging academic and social environment for first-year students living in the residential hall who want to solve complex problems that confront us. 

• University of San Diego Survey of admitted students: In the 2014 Survey of Admitted Students, of those who enrolled, 48% reported that USD’s identity as a “community of changemakers” had a very strong or strong impact on their decision to enroll.